Combination clothes washer and wringer.



PATENTBD AUG. 9, l 904.

APPLICATION FILED F3124, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

I) fob;

Wihysse" UNTTED STATES Patented August 9, 1904.

PATENT @EETEE.

COMBINATION CLOTHES WASHER AND WRINGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,270, dated August 9, 1904.

Application filed February 24, 1904. Serial No- 195,097.

To all 'IU7bO7IL it nmg concern:

Be it known that 1, Lu ROY CLAIBORN GIL- LEsrIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brownsville, in the county of Haywood and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Combination Clothes l/Vasher and Vringer, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a combined clothes washer and wringer, and has for its objects to produce a simple inexpensive device adapted for performing both the washing and wringing operations and one in which in practice the pressure of the rollers upon the fabric may be readily varied to accord with the weight or texture of the latter, and this without the employment of pressure-regulating springs.

To these ends the invention comprises the novel features of construction and combination of parts more fully herein after described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved device, showing the same applied to a tub. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device removed from the tub.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a supporting-frame comprising a pair of vertical end members or standards 2, arranged in parallel spaced relation and connected by a bar or member 8, attached in any suitable manner to the standards 2 upon the rear edges and adjacent to the lower ends of the latter, which are provided each with a primary bearing-seat at and a secondary bearing-seat 5, said bearings being preferably in the form of vertical slots open at their upper ends and disposed in different vertical planes-that is, the primary bearing 4: is at a lower elevation than the bearing 5for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The bearing-openings 4 5 of one member are in alinement with the corresponding openings in the other member, thereby disposing them in pairs, either pair of which is adapted to receive the pintles or journals of a pair of operating-rollers 6 7, adapted in practice to seat vertically one above the other and to receive between them the fabric undertreatment,

(N0 model.)

the roller 7 being provided with an operatingcrank 8, whereby motion is imparted to the rollers for feeding or drawing the fabric therebetween. These rollers, which may be of any suitable construction, preferably consist of a wooden or other core 9 and a yieldable surface covering 10, formed of alternate layers of rubber and canvas.

Attention is here directed to the fact that in practice the supporting-frame is seated in the tub and that during the washing operation the rollers 6 7, which are freely removable therefrom, are arranged within the primary bearing-slots 4, within which they have relative vertical play, and that when so arranged the rollers will be submerged in the water and suds contained in the tub or other vessel. After the washing operation has been completed and the clothes thoroughly cleansed the rollers are removed from the bearings 4 and seated in the secondary bearin s 5 and are thereby sustained above, and out of contact with the water and suds in position to perform the wringing operation, for which purpose the fabric is passed between them. It is to be .noted in this connection that when the rollers are disposed for washing the roller 7 may be arranged either above or below the roller 6 to thereby feed the fabric forward or backward, as the operator may elect, whereas during the wringing operation the roller 7 is preferably situated beneath the roller 6 to insure a rearward feeding of the material. Furthermore, the roller 7 may be readily turned or reversed endwise, thereby adapting the device for manipulation by either a right-handed or left-handed operator.

For applying pressure to the rollers during the Washing or wringing operations I provide a pressure device or frame 11, comprising a pair of spaced arms or levers 12, connected at their forward ends by a bar or member 13 and connected with the frame 1 by means of a pair of chains or other flexible elements 14:, engaged, respectively, at one end with the rear end of the levers and at their other ends with the frame-bar 3, said levers 12 being provided between their ends with sockets or seats 15, adapted in practice to receive the journals or pintles of the uppermost roller, while the chains or elements 1 1 are adjustable in length to adapt the pressure device for such engagement when the rollers are mounted in either set of the bearing-slots 4 or 5. From this arrangement it is apparent that by grasping and pressing downward upon the bar 13 when the device is in operative engagement with the uppermost roller suitable pressure may be applied to the fabric passing between the rollers and that this pressure may be readily varied to accord with the weight or the texture of the fabric.

For maintaining the device 11 yieldably in pressure-applying position I provide a spring 16, one end of which is suitably connected with the bottom of the tub, while its other end is engaged with the bar 13, the function of this spring being to obviate necessity of the operator constantly holding the device to maintain it in position.

During the wringing operation, as above described, the clothes in passing from between the rollers are received by an apron 17, provided at the normally inner or upper ends of its side bars with suitable eyes designed for detachable engagement with hooks or analogous attaching devices 18, carried by the end members 2, the apron or table being adapted'in practice to rest upon the edge of the tub.

For maintaining the supporting-frame 1 in its operative position I provide a pair of bracing members or bars 19, having, respectively, suitable eyes for engagement with the books 18 and notched or recessed, as at 20, between their ends for engagement with the upper edge of the tub or vessel.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I produce a simple inexpensive device which is admirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in view and one in which the employment of springs for applying pressure to the rollers is wholly dispensed with. In attaining these ends I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, inasmuch as minor changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is In a device of the class described, a supporting-frame having two pairs of oppositelydisposed bearing-slots, a pair of cooperating rollers arranged one above the other and having journals, the slots of one pair being arranged at a higher elevation than those of the other and either pair of slots being designed to receive at once the journals of both rollers in the above-named operative order of arrangement of the latter, a pressure device including a pair of spaced members adapted for engagement with the journals of the uppermost roller, and means for adjustably connecting the pressure device with the supporting-frame.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LE ROY CLAIBORN GILLESPIE. Witnesses:

G. B. l/VILLIAMS, S. F. Ti-rouAs. 

